"The pandemic has disrupted the economy but it has also opened a lot of opportunities for technology based businesses."
Meet Anirban Sarkar. For the last two decades, he has had a tryst with Digital products and technologies. After his B.Tech (Hons) in Computer Sc & Eng, MBA in marketing and Entrepreneurship course from HBS, he has been driving digital product transformations across a plethora of domains like Banking, Finance, Telecom, and Retail.
But somehow he wanted to do something different, something on his own, although not sure what. Last year during the pandemic he was trying online to find a chess coach for his son, and as he kept on searching across multiple websites and Apps he found out there was a problem. Teachers, coaches, and trainers were going across multiple websites to promote themselves, get payment, and teach. Parents and students were also going across multiple websites to find them.
So he thought about how can he solve this problem. The idea of his startup came to him and he became an accidental entrepreneur. Today, he is the CEO, founder of a 3-month-old Edutech startup MeetMy.coach.
It is an exciting journey with lots of pitfalls, challenges, trials, and tribulations. However, Anirban never loses hope, his mantra has always been – ‘You never lose when you fail, you lose when you quit’.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Anirban Sarkar: Hi I am Anirban, CEO, and founder of a nascent Edutech startup, MeetMy.coach. I am an accidental entrepreneur. Last year during the pandemic as I was looking online for a chess coach for my son, I found a problem that my platform can solve.
At MeetMy.coach any qualified coach, teacher, trainer or tutor can come and register for free, promote themselves, do LIVE online sessions and do all the coaching tasks and manage learning end to end. At the same time, parents and students looking for a qualified coach can also find them. To find your favorite teacher and do the teaching as well, all on the same platform.
The platform is 3 months old, we have over 800+ teachers from 10 countries across 12 domains. We have over 250 students registered. We are getting revenue traction. We have live events on the site and I want to make it more versatile.
I am having a tryst with Digital products for the last 20 years, I am a B.Tech ( Hons) in Comp Sc & Engineering, MBA in Marketing, and an HBS ( online) Alumni.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Anirban Sarkar: My business started during the pandemic. In fact, the Pandemic has completely transformed the education and online learning industry. For me and my startup we learned a few interesting lessons:
1) Focusing on one segment or one geographical area and then growing your startup gradually does not work in Edutech anymore. You have to be focused globally. Today an English teacher in Australia can teach a student in India or a Jolly Phonics teacher from India can teach a student in Europe, so in order to get traction, one needs to be across multiple geographies.
2) Hybrid learning will stay, in fact, the days are not far when schools will be for learning social skills, academics will be more online
3) Technology will have a sweeping impact on education, whether it is content or delivery of educational material, interaction among students, or peer-to-peer learning, we have to adapt faster. It is like a treadmill, you run slow or fast but you can’t get down.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Anirban Sarkar: The pandemic has disrupted the economy but it has also opened a lot of opportunities for technology-based businesses. The elearning or Online learning Industry has grown and has transformed itself. My advice:
- Do not worry too much about what will happen if the pandemic continues or it ends etc. Learning is a basic need, hybrid model will stay, so keep improving on your existing platforms.
- Just focus on basic simple products and traction.
- If you have a brick & mortar business, you need to have some kind of online presence that will help you grow
- Collaborate and grow, share the learning and sniff out opportunities
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Anirban Sarkar: The Pandemic has changed the Education, coaching, and Elearning Industry completely. Hybrid learning is here to stay. Whether it is sports, academics, performing arts, or music every kind of learning is now hybrid.
I started my startup during this pandemic. I have adapted by creating a platform for teachers to come to the platform and teach globally. I have initiated collaboration and lead generation among coaches. Today at Meetmy.coach a maths teacher can recommend a tennis coach. I have adapted by introducing features that will help teachers to teach effectively rather than going across multiple websites and apps to find students and then teach them.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Anirban Sarkar: I wish I had received the advice to create a SAAS-based learning management system for freelance tutors and teachers across multiple domains. I was initially focusing on a few domains. Contrary to the conventional wisdom of focusing on one niche and then growing, I have seen rapid growth from different domains, which has helped me to have traction and under the consumer which for me are teachers, parents and students.
In 2022 I plan to improve upon it and analyze the data I collect from the users of my platform. Data-driven changes and features will be key for my platform. We will try new domains and categories keeping features simple and easy to use.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Anirban Sarkar: I believe Online businesses will maintain strong growth in 2022. People are now used to remote working, online learning, online ordering of food, online entertainment, and even online medical support. New opportunities will open up.
For Online Learning especially 2022 will see specializations among platforms that provide learning content, examination preparation, personalised coaching, peer-to-peer learning, and specific segments.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Anirban Sarkar: I spend almost 8 – 10 hours in from my screens either laptop or mobile phone.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Anirban Sarkar: My stories focus on personal experiences. I started the company to help parents like me to find well-qualified teachers and also help coaches to have a platform to express their talent.
In most cases, coaches go unsung. If I ask you who won the Ladies Australian Open in 2022, most of us know it is Ash Barty.
If I ask then do you know her coach? The same story I tell my team is – think you are looking for a teacher for your son or daughter, brother or sister, what traits will you look into a teacher. Think about what features a teacher would love to have like remotely communicating with students.
We also engage and brainstorm about pricing and sales approach.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Anirban Sarkar: My real challenge right now is financing my growth. Since I bootstrapping I have a limited budget and I want to bring in new features, like a full-fledged mobile app, multi-lingual websites, B2B features. I also need funding for marketing, sales, and recruiting talented people. So funding is my real challenge right now.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Anirban Sarkar: I am interested in learning about NFT as I feel it will have an interesting impact on Elearning. I want to learn more about that. Also, I want to learn more about Analytics and Data Management. Data is the new oil, which is the basis of all decision-making.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Anirban Sarkar: My take is a bit different , I feel many of us want to start their own businesses and therefore they are taking th plunge now as the Pandemic has created a lot of opportunities for online businesses. Also people want to work on exciting new things.
I feel people would love to work in Online Learning as it has good future potential and opportunities for growth.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Anirban Sarkar: I would not pick as such but I would definitely like to learn more about some of the big names in online education like tutor.com or Cheg and find the gaps they have which MeetMy.coach can fill and grow.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Anirban Sarkar: To me success means:
- Meetmy.coach emerges as a premier platform for coaching and learning
- Meetmy.coach becomes popular, students, teachers, parents, educational institutions can get value
- The platform helps the needy in developing countries, gives them a learning platform to educate themselves and grow
- On a personal front, I would be successful if I can create a successful platform. It is like planting a sapling and seeing it grow.
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Anirban Sarkar for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Anirban Sarkar or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
